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opposition to Henry IV

The storm broke in 1073. A group of Saxon nobles and prelates and the free peasantry of
Eastphalia, who had borne the brunt of statute labour in the building of the royal strongholds, revolted against the regime of Henry’s Frankish and Swabian officials. To overcome this startling combination and to save his fortresses, the king needed the military strength of the southern German princes Rudolf...